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I'm from the East Coast and no one from my school has even heard of Macalester. What is Mac's prestige among LAC's, and what departments/ programs is it strong in (I'm considering an international studies/ history major)?

By Macmom (Macmom) on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 01:08 am: Edit

My daughter will be a sophomore at Mac this year. Mac is a very well-regarded LAC, and should be well known by most college counselors. Each entering class has a substantial number of Merit Scholars and Finalists. In the current issue of the Atlantic Monthly, it is listed along with many other schools as not in the top twenty-five yet only slightly less good than the elites. This list includes some schools with which people from your school may be more familiar, including Wesleyan and Middlebury. For a student looking for prestige, Mac probably is not a good choice. For a student with strong credentials who is looking for a rigorous education with an emphasis on community service and internationalism, a politically liberal environment, friendly students from all over the country and the world, and an urban location (St.Paul is a vibrant, progressive town), and who doesn't mind cold snowy winters (not unlike upstate New York), Mac is a great choice. If you look at the recently published US News and World Report rankings issue, there is an essay about Macalester that gives a good overview. Very few people in our West Coast state seem to have heard of Macalester, except for students at our most competitive high schools and their parents. We recently attended a sustainable agriculture event, and it seemed that all the participants knew about Mac, several through the literary review (The Ruminator). My daughter had a fantastic first year and is quite excited about returning.